How do bike racers pee

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Cycling Today Official. Home How To How To Wout van Aert secures Tour of Britain overall victory with final stage win. The three-week race tests their endurance as they ride thousands of miles through often-rough terrain.

Thankfully for them, there are a few options. Thankfully for us, these choices are pretty well-known. It takes a lot of dedication, training, and grit to participate in the Tour de France. There are 21 stages, one per day, and it takes 23 days to complete the race from start to finish. GQ tells us riders are on their bikes for over six hours per day as they pedal nearly 3, miles.

Obviously, considering a certain expected amount of exertion, sweat takes care of a lot of fluid intake - but with long stages and the need to stay hydrated of paramount importance, sometimes a rider is going to have to take a leak. So how do they do it? The answer is the question is that, unsurprisingly, peeing is a rather personal thing - and different riders take different approaches.

The peloton may organise itself, selecting a 'nature break' slot during which the riders will collectively pee; at a Grand Tour tradition dictates that the GC leader determines when this will be. Anyone that keeps rolling is bound by unwritten law not to attack during this time. Of course, like all unwritten rules, this little gem has been conveniently overlooked - notably on stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia when Tom Dumoulin Team Sunweb stopped for a little bit more than a wee.

If the need to pee is only really affecting one rider, it's common practice for the cross-legged individual to make their way to the front of the peloton before stopping off, to give themselves the longest possible window during which to empty their bladder.

Should the rider take their time and be passed by the peloton, they can use the team cars to draft their way back to the bunch. There is no women's Tour de France, but of course the Women's World Tour comprises of some long days of racing, and for female riders the whole process takes a little bit longer. It is possible for women to pee standing up when wearing bib shorts, as this excellent and widely shared illustration demonstrates - but it can be a messy process if it goes wrong, and frankly it's probably quicker just to squat.

When sitting in the convoy at the Women's Tour , we only saw one 'nature break stop' during the whole five day race. The rider chased back on pretty easily, but since women's races are often shorter, the female peloton tends to avoid nature breaks where possible.

Reputable UK news source the Sun please apply pinch of salt was most shocked when a fan sent in a picture of Madison Genesis rider Taylor Gunman " pulling out his willy to wee " whilst riding in the Tour of Britain last year. Not all riders are happy to pee on the bike, whilst others tend to look for a helping hand - with a team-mate pushing them from behind so they can keep up momentum whilst pedalling.